''Beurre blanc'' (; ) or ''Beurre Nantais'' () is a warm emulsified

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

made with a reduction of

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

and/or

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...

(normally Muscadet) and

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

s into which softened whole butter is whisked in off the heat to prevent separation. The small amount of emulsifiers naturally found in butter, including a trace of

lecithin Lecithin ( ; from the Ancient Greek "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so ar ...

, is used to form an oil-in-water

emulsion An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally Miscibility, immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloi ...

. Although similar to hollandaise in concept, it is considered neither a classic leading nor compound sauce. This sauce originates in the cuisine of the

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...

department.

Origin

The chef Clémence Lefeuvre (née Clémence Prau) invented ''beurre blanc'', apparently by accident, sometime around the beginning of the 20th century. She served this sauce at her restaurant "La Buvette de la Marine" in the hamlet of La Chebuette in the village of Saint-Julien-de-Concelles on the banks of the Loire River a few kilometers upstream from

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

.St-Julien-de-Concelles Official Website
Retrieved 24 May 2008. Legend holds that she intended to prepare a béarnaise sauce to go with pike but forgot to add the

tarragon Tarragon (''Artemisia dracunculus''), also known as estragon, is a species of perennial herbaceous plant, herb in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread in the wild across much of Eurasia and North America and is cultivated for culinary and medic ...

and egg yolks. Some sources claim that this invention occurred while she worked as a cook for the Marquis de Goulaine at Château de Goulaine.

Aristide Briand Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconciliat ...

, long-time prime minister of France and

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

laureate, said at her death in 1932 that it "was a bit like national mourning."

Preparation

A good ''beurre blanc'' is rich and buttery, with a neutral flavor that responds well to other seasonings and flavorings, thereby lending itself to the addition of herbs and spices. It should be light yet still liquid and thick enough to cling to food, also known as nappe. ''Beurre blanc'' is prepared by reducing wine, vinegar, shallots, and herbs (if used) until it is nearly dry. Although not necessary, cream can be added at this point as a stabilizer to the sauce.

Lemon juice The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

is sometimes used in place of vinegar, and stock can also be added. Small cubes of cold butter are then gradually incorporated and as the butter melts the mixture is whisked. The sauce can separate by either overheating or cooling. If it heats past , some emulsifying proteins begin to break down and release the butterfat they hold in an emulsion. The butterfat will solidify if the sauce cools below .

Derivatives

''Beurre rouge''

''Beurre rouge'' (English: "red butter") is a variant of the ''beurre blanc'' sauce that is prepared by substituting a dry red wine for the white wine and red wine vinegar for the white wine vinegar. File:Rouget en écailles de pommes de terre.JPG, A potato and vegetable dish prepared with ''beurre rouge'' (red butter)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beurre Blanc Butter French sauces Creamy sauces White sauces

Origin

Preparation

Derivatives

''Beurre rouge''

See also

References